Insights into hardship: Anti-Poverty Week 2024

Serving some of the most financially vulnerable in the state, many of the Financial Wellbeing Collective’s clients struggle to afford basic life essentials such as housing, food, utilities, and healthcare.

“To keep a roof over their heads, many of our clients prioritise rent or mortgage payments at the detriment of other life essentials such as food and medication,” Financial Wellbeing Collective General Manager Helena Jakupovic said.

“Housing stress has spiked among the clients we support. In FY 23/24, 43 per cent of our financial counselling clients’ income went to rent or mortgage payments, up from 32 per cent in 2021. This leaves little room to afford other basics needed to survive.

“People experiencing poverty or hardship have low financial wellbeing which impacts all aspects of their lives including mental and physical health, relationships, employment and the ability to meet responsibilities,” she added.

The Financial Wellbeing Collective has reported an increase in new clients needing hardship assistance for the first time across its three crisis intervention services of financial counselling, and emergency relief and food access services.

Ms Jakupovic said inflation has pushed previously financially secure families and individuals into financial hardship. “Those who were already struggling have been pushed into levels of poverty where they are making very tough decisions everyday just to survive,” she said.

“Having a job and being in paid employment has generally been seen as a guarantee against being in poverty but that’s simply not the case anymore. Across our services, we are seeing increases in employed clients needing hardship assistance for the first time, as many struggle with today’s cost of living,” she added.

Lack of affordable housing is putting pressure on many household budgets, she explained. “Today’s rent or mortgage prices is leaving families very little money to afford other life necessities such as food, medical care and transport costs.”

One of Financial Wellbeing Collective’s utility grant clients commented that “paying rent is exceeding difficult” on a low fixed income despite being a “mature adult who knows how to budget”.

Addressing poverty and hardship

A raft of changes on a government and policy level are needed to assist Western Australians experiencing financial hardship and poverty, according to Ms Jakupovic.

“To address cost-of-living pressures the government needs to set an adequate minimum wage to support a decent standard of living for working people. We also need a targeted cost-of-living package that offers financial assistance to people unable to cover the costs of life essentials, and increased funding for emergency relief and financial counselling services,” she said.

“We need more public housing, the extension of the WA Rent Relief Program beyond June 2025, and the abolishment of no reason evictions to help address the increasing number of Western Australians experiencing housing insecurity.

“For the growing number of Western Australians experiencing utility stress, we need increased investment in the Hardship Utility Grant Scheme to support scheme expansion and grant limits. Energy Ahead is a valuable preventive program that promotes household energy literary, and the program needs extension beyond June 2025,” Ms Jakupovic added.

The Hardship Utility Grant Scheme Service Centre supports Western Australians who have been disconnected, or at risk of disconnection from a utility service, and with a utility bill arrears over three months. 

As the state’s largest collaborative network addressing financial hardship, the Financial Wellbeing Collective assists some of Western Australia’s most financially vulnerable.

In FY 23/24, The Financial Wellbeing Collective supported 29,000 Western Australians through its hardship crisis intervention services of financial counselling, and emergency relief and utility grant access services.

The Financial Wellbeing Collective is powered by 12 partner organisations, including Anglicare WA and Uniting WA, who are united to reduce the drivers and impacts of financial hardship in the Western Australian community.

Anti-Poverty Week, 13-19 October 2024, works to raise awareness about the causes and effects of poverty, inspiring meaningful steps towards its eradication.